Man O’ War Dreadnought Syrah

“Fear god and dread nought” – an intimidating line to pull out next time you’re playing battleships. This was actually the motto of the HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1906, which at the time was the world’s most powerful battleship ever built!

From the steep hillside vineyards of Man O’ War on the eastern end of Waiheke Island, this impresses every year and fast becoming one of Aotearoa’s most iconic Syrah labels. The 2018 release is here and in the words of the MOW crew she’s a “classical Northern Rhone Syrah. Stylish and finely balanced this wine is beautiful now and will benefit from ‘splashy’ decanting prior to drinking upon release.”

Scoring a whopping 95/100 and a Top Rank award by Bob Campbell MW, Bob called this “A rich, warming wine with blackcurrant, blackberry, dark cherry and plum flavours plus a suggestion of spice/anise and oak flavours. Although it is accessible when first released it will develop well with bottle age.”

Splashy decanting?! Far out, you ought to be dreading splashing a drop of this stuff. As always this is first class and a wine we’d highly recommend pairing with wild game dishes or a cut of fine Kiwi lamb.